Colours of Rain
by ximithii
Summary: Four friends. Two rulers. The story revolves around the different lives in the two kingdoms that separate friends and enemies. Anybody would do anything for power.


After spending one week watching Yu Yu Hakusho straight, I'm in the mood to write a fanfic for it. Yay! I always love my Kurama. Hmm…I think Miley Cyrus has a nice voice but her music still bore me. I thought it sounds pretty nice on TV which was the reason why I bothered to find her whole 2 new CDs. Writing an angst story with that kind of music does not build my mood. But then again…my main computer is broken or rather, in the middle of being fixed. _Nobody's perfect! I gotta work it! I know…-something something-_

**Disclaimer**: I pwned Kurama. –kidding- I do not own Yu Yu Haksuho.

**Note #1**: Because I enjoy Kurama and Youko Kurama as two separate people, I will make them two different people in this story. Kurama will be known as Kurama (surprise) and Youko Kurama will be known as Youko. I don't care about the names that much but just deal with it. Red-head vs. White-head

**Note #2**: When the characters are in kids-mode, I tend to imagine them to have the same features but shorter body and cuter faces.

**Note #3**: There happens to be a lot of "physical contact" in the first chapter. And some in other chapters…but the physical contact is not the main purpose of my story. This story will not be yaoi. I repeat, no yaoi. I prefer the relationships between the characters brotherly love. 33

Now, I shall continue onto the story rather than continue letting you read my useless ramblings. I'm still listening to that song by the way.

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**Chapter One**: The Childhood, Part One

In a world where two powerful rulers existed, everything was rather peaceful for a small period of time. The land was divided into two equal halves with each falling into the hands of the two rulers. But you know what they say: _history tends to repeat itself_. Although things seem to be peaceful on the surface, there will always be corruptions on the inside. Now, the two powerful rulers are both on their ways of retiring from the pugilistic world. Those that want to remain at top will surface at this point in time and use their resources to the greatest power.

This story will now begin with the life of a poor 6-year old boy on the street.

It was the marketplace. The place was filled up with people bargaining, buying, and selling objects that ranged from jewelry to everyday foods. The sun was up high in the sky today. Although the heat was unbearable, the marketplace still continued. The atmosphere created dry air creating the pavement on the ground to be dusty and hot. Little children run through the aisle and adults as a daily activity. Talks and laughers can be heard from the men and women that are sitting down in a store, sharing stories about their lives, and feasting on the food that are placed before them. Down the fruits/vegetable stands, we can hear the women talk about how cheap the fruits/vegetables are. There seem to be no excessive space along the aisle of the market but people still managed to get through.

Business here seems to be doing well for the majority of the people. But the more people buried in wealth, the more people drowned in poverty. Beggars were common on this road of the marketplace. They would beg and cry for anyone to give them money or food. The 6-year old boy was no exception. He was kneeling in front of the fruit stand with his hands out as a sign for money or food. The boy had red-hair with sparkling jaded eyes. His clothes were very dirty, brown-looking and had holes in them. He was very thin and looked very fragile.

However, he was not the youngest of the beggars. There were plenty of other children who are also beggars just like him that were sitting down on the aisle of the market.

Everyday was almost the same to him.

He would kneel all day hoping that a kind soul would offer a small piece of food –even a crumb of bread is better than nothing!—At the end of the day, he would return to "home" and fall asleep. This day was no exception. At the end of the day, he gathered the little money he received and headed off to home. Sweats continued to pour from his body as he was walking home. The young red-hair's home was quite a long distance from the busy bazaar; it would take him about an average hour to walk home if nothing was to stop him along the way.

As he reached into a dry rural area, there were a few houses approaching in front of him. Most of the houses had only a door to allow entrance and a small window for air to flow into them. Each house was designed as a one-room house leaving only enough room to sleep. It was typical for mothers to be out in the front of the house working with laundries or preparing the fruits and vegetables at this time of the day. The girls would help their mothers in various activities while the men and boys come home with the money or food they got for today. The boys that lived in the same area as the young red-head are few but all were older than the red-head. Being the youngest kid of the area, he could not partake in the work that the older boys perform for it was impossible to accomplish without adults. He had no father. His mother is bed-ridden. What else could he do besides beg for survival?

The boy reached his house, opened he door, and enter the house. Immediately, he walked over to the bed that was a few feet from the door. A middle-age woman was lying on the bed, appearing asleep. This woman was his mother. He sat on the edge of the bed by his mother hoping she would recover and wake up soon.

"Mother. I'm home."

The woman, who seemed to hear the voice of her son, opened her eyes slowly and turned her head toward him. Her left hand motioned toward her son's soft face. A few moments later, the woman made a few painful coughs that seem to continue on forever but after it ended, it left her breathless. The boy's face grew painful as he looked at his mother struggling in pain while he just sits there being useless like always. A small stream of tears fell from his eyes as he watched his mother continue struggling.

"I'm sorry, Mother…I-I'm so useless."

Sad eyes were visible in both of the eyes of the mother and son.

The mother motioned the son to come close to her. He did as followed. A small whisper came out of the mother's mouth. "I am sorry, Kurama. I wished I could only give you a better life. Please don't live your life in despair because of me."

Kurama shook his head quickly. "No! Please don't say that! I will find a cure for you…" The mother gave a weak smile and placed her hand on Kurama's head. "I love you." Her hand slowly retreated back onto the bed while her eyes slowly closed. Kurama's eyes broaden while he watched her falling asleep. It was _**odd**_. For the past months until now, the conversations between his mother and him lasted much longer than today.

"Mother?" The small red-headed boy began tugging one of the arms of the mother as a way to wake her up. Her eyes continued to stay closed but several sharp coughs rushed out her mouth. The emerald eyes slowly placed upon the trickles of the blood on the edge of his mother's lips. "M-Mother?!" The boy quickly leaped from the bed and unto the ground. He took several steps backward before turning around fleeing from the house as fast as he could.

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The sky was beginning to be filled with pastel colors leaving a cool atmosphere. Halfway down the sky was the bright sun, ready to leave so the moon could take place in the vast sky. It had been hours since the young Kurama took off from his house. The boy was wandering in the still-busy marketplace. A worried face was clearly marked on his face but no one stopped him and asked him if he was okay.

Approaching was a small medical stand with a man and a woman, who apparently seems to be the head of the stand, working on several elderly patients. Kurama pushed his way through the people standing around the stand until he was in front of the man. "D-Doctor…please help my mom." The man didn't flinch from his work and still continued on what he was doing. Kurama's mouth opened again but several adults pushed their way forward shoving Kurama back out into the open street causing him to fall. The small boy gave several small sniffles while pushing himself back up. His head looked down at the ground with tears streaming from his eyes. "Someone…please help my mom." He raised one of his arms and rubbed it against his eyes.

Suddenly, Kurama felt a small tap in the back of his shoulder. Turning around, Kurama's emerald eyes widen and glanced up at the tall, dark, skinny figure that just touched him. Quick to notice his appearance, the figure had long black hair while wearing an outfit that was all black. A silver mask covered up half his face leaving only his eyes visible. Kurama felt his body froze. There was something about this man that gave Kurama a chilly feeling. Shaking off the feeling, Kurama managed to make a small whisper come out of his mouth.

"Y-yes, Sir?"

The purple orbs glistened in the man's eyes as he stared back down at the little red-head in front of him. "Come with me."

Kurama couldn't help but follow the man's orders. The man led them into a small bar with many adults at every corner. This made Kurama uneasy as the small child walked closely behind the man through the bar. They finally reached a table where the man motioned Kurama to take a seat while he took one across from the boy. Kurama didn't dare stare directly at the man's eyes. He was pretty speechless and clueless on why the man told him to follow him. Many unanswered questions passed through Kurama's mind as to figure out what was to happen next. While Kurama doze off into his own world, the man couldn't help but stare at the little boy. Breaking the silence, the man waved to a waitress and ordered two cups of wine. A moment later, the waitress came back and placed the two cups onto the table.

"Take a sip."

Kurama stared at the cup for a minute wondering why a stranger would take him into a bar and actually ordered a drink for him. This was very strange, indeed.

"U-um…I don't know how—"

Kurama wanted to complete his sentence but the man's eyes stared straight deeply into Kurama's eyes. It was like he was trying to read his soul or mind. Kurama tried to shake off this feeling but to no prevail. Not trying to look at the man, Kurama took the cup into his hands and placed his lips onto the edge of the cup.

"Lets go see your mother."

The boy's eyes widen as this phrase surprised him more than ever. Kurama took his lips off the cup and opened his mouth to speak.

"How did you know?"

A small chuckle was let out by the masked man before he answered the question. "There are many things that I know."

Kurama decided not to question about his answer even though his answer was not the answer he was expecting. "S-so..."

"We can leave now if you want."

"Really??" Kurama gave a huge grin while his eyes glistened with hope.

The man and Kurama left the cups at the table and left the bar. While Kurama was leading the way to his house, the man followed Kurama in quiet. It was not long before the two of them reached their destination. Kurama opened the door quickly and led the stranger into the house. His mother was still sleeping so Kurama walked over to her bed and sat on the edge like before.

"Mother is sick."

The man came over to the bedside, placed his hands into his pockets of his pants, and said nothing for a while. Kurama saw this and his hope vanished once again. "Can mother be saved?"

The man took one of his hands out and placed it facedown against the woman's forehead. For a few minutes, the man kept his hand in the same position without making any movement. Kurama couldn't comprehend what he was doing but decided to keep silent until the man was finished whatever he was doing. After a few minutes, the man took his hand off and placed it back into his pocket.

"I'm done."

Kurama's face turned puzzled at the man's response. "What do you mean?"

The man decided not to answer; he felt like it was not necessarily to. Moments later, a raspy, feminine voice was heard. "…Kurama, is that you?"

Kurama's face grew into bewilderment as he realized his mother was awake. He grabbed her arm and a small stream of tears fell from his eyes. "Mother! You're okay!" The mother pushed herself to sit up on the bed as a sign to show that she was healing. "I'm fine now, Kurama." The mother's eyes wandered onto the stranger that was standing next to Kurama and smiled at the man. "I'm assuming that you're the man that helped me."

The man gave a small bow. "It was no problem."

Kurama felt so happy that he turned to the man and started thanking him. "Thank you very much! Is there anything I can do?"

The man took Kurama's hand as he leaned his face forward to Kurama. "I would very much like you to become my apprentice."

Kurama's head leaned toward one side as a sign of confusion. "Why?"

"There's something that I see in you that I find more suitable to be my apprentice than any others. I'm very sure that your mother won't mind you living in the Royal Palace?"

Kurama's mouth and eyes widen as he heard the words _Royal Palace_. "The Royal Palace?? **You're** from the Royal Palace?"

A nod was given as the response.

Kurama turned toward his mother as excitement and confusion run through his head. "Mother…what do you think?" The mother seemed more delightful than Kurama when she heard the news. "Go, Kurama. I think it's wonderful that you get to stay at the Royal Palace and become an apprentice." When the red-head turned around again to the man, he suddenly realized that he won't get to be with his mother. Disappointment was written all over his face again. The man, who seemed to see this coming, released Kurama's hand and placed his hand on Kurama's head.

"Don't worry. You'll get to see your mother often."

Kurama's eyes were still full out doubt but the mother took Kurama's hands and told him to go with the man. She even begged him to go. "There's nothing in the world that I want more than to let you live a happy life."

Kurama finally agreed to follow the man to the royal palace. The man was making a movement toward the door as he gave instructions to Kurama on what to do next. "Go the same place tonight where we drank today and tomorrow, we will enter the royal palace." As the man opened the door, he turned his head toward the mother and child and gave a small smirk underneath his mask. _Poor child. Thinking that I could heal that woman. Only Yo__u__ko could do that and well, he's just not here. I can only give a little extra energy to let her live a little so that I could get that boy._

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Soon, the moon was high up in the sky. Everything was set back into the market where Kurama was found wandering in the marketplace once more. He had just finished saying farewell to his beloved mother. He reached his destination, paused a moment before entering, and took a deep breathe. A small smile crossed his face. _Everything is changing. Mother's healed. I'm a royal's apprentice. Life can't get any better than this._ Kurama pushed the door of the bar open and took a foot inside the door. Glancing around, the bar looked livelier than the moment he went. Everyone was laughing. Everyone was cheering. Everyone was just having fun. _So this is what normal people do, huh._ Taking several more steps forward, Kurama realized he was just a kid entering an adult's world. Shy, he made a quick duck behind a small tree inside the bar that was nearby him. _I forgot where exactly I'm supposed to meet him!_

Kurama, who thought he did a pretty good job at camouflaging behind the tree, was actually spotted by the waitress who was walking around in that area. She walked over to Kurama quickly and pulled him out by his shirt. With a firm face, she asked, "What are you doing here? This is not a kid's place."

The red-head didn't know how to respond to this, shook his head quickly, and continued to stare at the waitress. The waitress, who was already annoyed, began to lead Kurama out the door. Kurama started to stammer and whine as he was really supposed to wait at the bar.

"Lady, I'll handle it."

Both the waitress and Kurama turned around to see where the voice was coming from. There he was, the strange mysterious masked man. The waitress made a confused face and pointed her index finger toward herself. "Are you talking to me?"

The masked man made a small nod. "I'm sorry for the trouble he made. He's actually under my care."

After hearing the smooth masculine voice, the woman blushed and released Kurama immediately. "Sorry about that. I'll take my leave now." The woman quickly left the two to themselves and attended her own business.

"From here to the palace, it will be a long travel. We'll take our rest here and tomorrow, we'll depart." The man turned around and walked toward the stairs which ended up leading them to their room. Still astonished by the new world, Kurama's eyes constantly browse his surroundings with amazement. When they reached their room, Kurama saw two separate beds inside the room.

The man entered the room first and told Kurama to hurry and go to sleep. With that being said, he climbed into one of the beds and fell asleep. Following the man's orders, Kurama quickly climbed into his bed and pulled a sheet of blanket over him. He closed his eyes and waited for sleep to come. Many thoughts were still running through his head causing him to not fall asleep. _My clothes…people are going to wonder why someone like me is following him. I wonder how he is…why is his face covered? Is it because he has an ugly scar??_

One hour passed and young Kurama still couldn't fall asleep. He twisted his body to one side of the bed. His eyes slowly opened to see how dark the room was. The room was pitched black and not a single sound was heard. He couldn't even hear the man make any sounds or movements either. Kurama figured it must be the fact that he was not used to the new environment causing him to not fall asleep easily. Giving a small sigh, Kurama closed his eyes once again.

A few minutes passed when Kurama felt his blanket getting tugged away from him. At first, Kurama thought it was his imagination. Scared, Kurama kept his eyes shut and tried not to make any movements. The blanket that was on Kurama was now completely off the bed. Unable to resist shaking, Kurama made a small whimper. Soon, he felt a hand go up his shirt, rubbing and touching his upper body. Another hand was felt going through between Kurama's small legs. Kurama continued to bite his lips as a way to block any sounds that were going to come out of his mouth. _It's going to be over. It's going to be over. This is all a dream. I'm asleep. I'm asleep…_

The hands constantly felt Kurama's entire body, from top to bottom. This went on for about half an hour before the hands stopped moving around. Kurama's heart continued to beat fast without missing a beat while sweats poured from his face. _It's stopping. I'm at the end of my dream._ The moment he thought it ended, he felt a hot tongue pressed roughly deeply in his mouth. Dripping. Hot drips. _This. T-this is a dream…please let this be a dream._ With the tongue being in the mouth, the small red-head felt the cold lips on his. They were pressed softly against his own. A small cry came out of the red-head's mouth. With the two mouths locked onto each other, a hand from the other party was placed behind Kurama's head and raised his head forward into the air.

The body and mind of the child was now exhausted completely even though the mouths were still together without a single moment of breathe. Losing his energy, Kurama felt his body slowly drifting into a deep sleep.

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_**Cocka-cookoo-doo! Cocka-cookoo-doo!**_

_"Come here, come here! You shall see beautiful jewelry! Cheap prices!"_

_"__Early morning to you too!"_

_"How are you doing? Ohh, I'm doing good!"_

Noises. Sounds. Whispers. The small boy slowly opened his eyes and found sunlight shining onto his bedside. Pushing himself to sit up, his eyes drifted onto the other bed where the man was nowhere to be found. Kurama shook his head for a few moments as the horrendous memory of his dream came back into his mind. He noticed the blanket was still on him. "What a scary dream." He pulled the blanket off of him and leaped out of his bed. Now all he had to do was wait for the man…wherever he was.

At that moment, the masked man came in with a tray of food and placed it on the round table that was in the corner of the room. He motioned the boy to come and eat his meal. Kurama's eyes grew round and he felt happy for a moment. "Wow…so many foods…" _I only wish mother was here to eat this. She probably needs this more than I do._

The meal was finished in a fashionably time and the two began to depart on their way to the royal palace. They walked for about an hour, walking out of the town, and continued until they approached a large barren field that seemed untouched by human's civilization.

"I didn't know the world can be so big…"

"Just wait 'till you see the world beneath your feet when we fly."

A huge grin crossed Kurama's face when he heard this phrase. "Really? We get to fly??"

The man made a small chuckle. Then he started to make some small chants. A small yellow bird appeared in one of the man's hands. In no time, the small bird grew into a large yellow phoenix. The chants stopped and the man grabbed Kurama by the arms and lifted him onto the phoenix. He lifted himself afterwards onto the phoenix. He patted the phoenix by the side; the phoenix, which seems to understand what the man wants, started to fly off in the direction of the royal palace.

"Hold on tight, Kurama. You do not want to fall off and make a great **ploof** when you land."

Kurama made a small nod and grasped tightly onto the bird's feathers.

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"I would like to introduce my new apprentice, Kurama." The masked man and Kurama were in a room full of tall and short plants. It seemed like the man was talking to another royal member who was currently attending to one of his plants.

"That's very nice to know."

This man, however, did not seem interested in what the masked man has to say. Kurama glanced at the new man's long silver hair. His attire seems to be the color white, which was a complete opposite of the man he's with. The most attracting part of the man was his golden eyes. It was most alluring. Kurama, who was hiding behind the masked man, made a small trip and fell forward from leaning too forward to look at the silver hair. Embarrassed, Kurama quickly got up and dared not to look up at his royal masters.

Both men turned to look at Kurama, who was constantly apologizing for his clumsiness.

The silver-head's eyes stared at Kurama as if he was searching for something from him. "…Kurama."

Hearing his name, Kurama's head went up. "Y-yes?"

The silver-head turned his back toward Kurama and ignored Kurama's response. "Karasu, don't you have something else to do?"

The masked man put his two hands into his pockets and began walking out of the room. "Wanting me out of your way don't you, _**Yo**__**u**__**ko**_?" Kurama, who appeared confused, made a movement to follow Karasu.

"Kurama, you're free for the rest of the afternoon. Go explore the rest of the palace."

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The palace was huge especially to a small boy like Kurama. The red-head left Youko's room and started walking away to any place that doesn't have anybody. The royal people sure have their ways of words and it felt scary to mess with them. So far, Kurama saw the marble wall of the palace of the hallways. The floor was covered with a silky, red carpet that was very clean compared to the carpets sold at the markets. Occasionally, he would see paintings of sceneries and noble figures on the wall but other than that, he has not seen anything else.

Walking a while, he eventually led himself into the courtyard with a large tree in the middle. Seeing no one, he decided to walk around the tree before leaning on it. _The palace is sure big. I've been walking around for a few hours and I still haven't explored all the rooms yet!_ The palace life was completely different from his past life. There seems to be no worries, no pains…

"This is my tree so if you wouldn't mind, I would like you to back off."

Kurama jumped from yet, another new voice. He turned his head right. He turned his head left. Yet he didn't see anyone around him. Confused, he stared at the space directly in front of him.

"Didn't I say 'I would like you to back off'?"

Stunned, Kurama realized that the voice was coming above his head. His head slowly shifted backward while his eyes dart left and right for the figure that was talking to him. And there he was. There was someone in the tree above him.

"You're awfully slow."

The red-head shifted his whole body around so that his body would be facing the tree and his head was looking upward toward the tree. There, in the tree, was a tiny boy that was lying on his back with his arms behind his head on a long, thick branch of the tree. Kurama had to squint his eyes to make any more observations about the boy where he discovered the boy had black hair with white streaks. Kurama also noticed that the boy's clothes consisted of black pants and a red top.

"I'm sorry."

The small boy on the tree finally opened his eyes and turned his head toward Kurama. "I'd never seen you before. Who are you?"

Kurama made a "thinking" face with his eyes staring up. Soon, his face returned to normal and a smile crossed his face. "I am Kurama." The boy's face, on the other hand, seemed annoyed by Kurama's cheerful attitude.

"Who cares about your name? I meant, what is your status here?"

Kurama's head tilt to one side. "…Status?"

The boy decided it was time to jump off the tree and landed on the ground on his feet. He stood by Kurama without looking at him. "By the looks of your clothes, you must serve a lower purpose than most of us." Kurama looked at his clothes and realized he was still wearing his usual clothes. Embarrassed, Kurama shifted his eyes to the corner in order to avoid looking at the boy. There was a moment of silence before the smaller boy pulled out a long katana and swung it at Kurama. Kurama saw the katana coming toward him tried to dodge it by moving back but the katana was still up close to his face.

Kurama's eyes grew big as he realized now that the boy was not joking around with his sword. "I'm sorry…did I do something?"

The boy made a quick smirk and quickly retrieved his katana to his side. "Why are you even here? You will not survive here."

Kurama's hands moved up a little as a way to show his nervousness toward to the boy's question. "A-ahh, M-Master Karasu—"

The boy's eyes widen the moment he heard the name 'Karasu'. Kurama noticed this and asked, "Is something the matter?" The boy closed his eyes and shook his head quickly. He turned to look at Kurama closely. "I'm sorry for insulting you."

"Hiei, there you are!"

A masculine voice came from behind and both the boys turned to the direction where the voice came from. An average man approached the two young boys with a cheerful face. He didn't seem out of the ordinary, brown short hair with brown eyes, and he was wearing a robe that closely resembles a Chinese's design. "Hiei! I see you have a new buddy!"

Hiei rolled his eyes and tried to avoid looking at the grown-man that is happily glowing while admiring Kurama from head to bottom. "What do you want?"

The man crossed his arms and smiled. "It's time for your bath-time!"

Kurama couldn't help but laugh when he heard the man's response. Hiei, who is quite embarrassed, began walking away from his fellow companions. The man grabbed Hiei by the back of his shirt and was smiling even more when Hiei struggled to escape the grasp of the man.

"Sorry for not introducing myself earlier. My name is Akane. I help around the palace by putting little children like Hiei into their bath tubs at their designated time. Now, I have never seen you, little one. May I ask you who you are?"

Kurama gave a small bow to show his respect to the man. "My name is Kurama. I'm new to the palace. I hope I'm not any trouble to you."

Akane, astonished at the boy's politeness, couldn't help but mess with him. "You are causing a mess right now."

"E-eh?? I'm sorry!"

"Yes. Hiei is feeling disturbed by your presence."

Kurama panic while Akane was obviously enjoying teasing the small boy. Hiei, annoyed, told the two to knock it off and was released immediately from Akane. "Lets just get this over with."

"Well Kurama, care to join us?"

Hiei made a pouting face since it was embarrassing enough to have a grown-man force him to take a bath. Now, a stranger to take a bath with him? But who was he to argue? After all, his status in the palace was not worth mentioning. Kurama contemplated at the question for a small moment before giving an answer. "Is it alright?"

Akane grabbed one of Kurama's hands in a mother-walking-a-child fashion and moved away from their original spot. "Of course! Plus, I will need to do something about that outfit of yours."

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Akane had placed the two boys naked into a large tub filled with water and soap and left to find a new outfit for Kurama. It was awkward that the two boys, who barely knew each other, were already sharing a bubble bath together. Hiei continued to glare at Kurama while Kurama sheepishly tried to avoid his stare.

"How did you get yourself into the palace?"

"U-um…Not sure about that. Master Karasu said something about taking me in as his apprentice…"

"Hn. I'm going to be the best warrior in this palace one day. You better not get in my way."

Kurama gave a small nod to please the small boy.

Akane came back with two outfits, one for each boy, and he was still happy as ever. He quickly washed up the boys and made the boys put on their outfits. Hiei's outfit did not change that much where his shirt was now the color blue. On the other hand, Kurama felt this new outfit completely strange. The fabric felt smooth and silky, unlike his old outfit. Kurama's outfit reminded him of Akane's outfit which was a smaller robe designed in an oriental fashion. His life…it was all changing too fast.

Akane took Hiei by the hand and made a farewell gesture to Kurama. "We have to do our jobs now so we'll see you some other time." Kurama smiled for he made some new friends today. _Everything's going great here!_

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The red-head was walking back to the area where he first met Youko realizing that he doesn't have anywhere to stay, and he felt like he needed to find Karasu. Kurama hoped that Karasu was around that area because he really didn't know the palace inside-out and asking the adults around the palace would be the last option he would resort to. Soon, he reached Youko's room. Now, whether to knock on the door and ask where Karasu was, was a question he was debating about in his head.

Kurama didn't have to wait long before the door to Youko's room opened. There, in front of Kurama, was the pretty man Kurama met earlier. Kurama was pretty astonished to see Youko standing in front of him since he hasn't knocked on the door yet.

The golden eyes stared deeply into the emerald eyes of the boy causing the boy to be unease. "May I help you?"

Kurama quickly responded so he wouldn't cause Youko to be angry. "Y-yes, do you know where Master Karasu is? I don't know where he's at or will be at…a-and…" Youko seemed to see this coming and walked past Kurama.

"Follow me. I will show you where your room is. Karasu had expected this earlier and told me to lead you to your room."

After going down the same hall for a very long time, Youko pointed out the room to Kurama and left without saying anything. Kurama wanted to ask him something but decided not to. The room that Kurama was to stay in was bare with nothing on the wall except for a window and drapes over it. Kurama looked through the window and saw the very same tree and courtyard that he went to earlier. On the same side of the window was a well-made bed. The sheets were made of silky materials and the pillows were made of goose feathers. Closely by the bed was a small round wooden table with two wooden benches. Kurama sat on bed and wondered what he was to do next.

It was about an hour later that a knock came from his door. Kurama quickly opened the door and saw that it was Karasu. Karasu walked into the room and made his way to the bench.

"How do you like it here?"

Kurama made a big grin. "I like it here!"

"I'm glad that you do."

Karasu motioned his right index finger toward the door as if he was casting a spell. Kurama couldn't understand what the man was doing but he decided to question about it. What he wanted to ask was about what was his role at the palace.

"U-um…I was wondering, what am I supposed to do here at the palace?"

Karasu's purple eyes glistened as he continued to listen to the boy talk. "You are willing to do **everything **that I tell you do, right?"

Kurama quickly made a small bow and responded, "Y-yes!"

Karasu crossed his legs and placed his right elbow on the table while his hand was against his chin. "Alright. Take off your clothes."

Surprised and scared, Kurama felt his heart beating really fast when he heard those words. He was quite reluctant to follow the order but he could feel the overwhelming aura that was coming from the man. If he was to act against the order, he could be killed instantly. The red-head closed his eyes and had no choice but to do as ordered. Stripping off his top first, he could sense that the man was watching him very closely. Soon, he was completely stripped naked.

Karasu uncrossed his legs and pulled out a small round pill out a pocket in his pants and handed it to Kurama. "Take this and swallow it." Kurama did as told and quickly swallowed the pill. Nothing happened. Kurama was still not sure where this was going…

It was not any longer until Karasu had stripped himself naked in front of Kurama and for the first time, Karasu had taken off the mask. Karasu grabbed the red-head by the arms and toss the both of them onto the bed with Karasu on top of Kurama. Bewildered, Kurama tried to struggle from the grasp of the man but failed to pull away. Karasu's face came close to Kurama and made a small whisper, "Last, you are not to make any sounds…"

The small boy could feel the hands of the man running through his genital areas several times. Kurama made several whimpers only to be silenced by the hot tongue of the man in his mouth. Both arms of Kurama were released from Karasu only to be dangling upward and completely out of strength. After the man took his lips off Kurama, he started rubbing himself onto Kurama. Kurama's eyes were now closed as he did not want to look at what was happening. He could feel his body burning and strangely enough, he could feel his body wanting more even though his mind was telling him differently.

Kurama let out several hard breathes while the man was enjoying tormenting the small boy. He felt his legs spread wider than usual and he continued to feel the hands rubbing back and forth down there. He felt a wet substance rubbing hard against his whole bottom but he did not open his eyes for he was still afraid of what was happening. Soon, everything was over and the man got off the boy and put on his clothes. "Sit up."

Kurama opened his eyes quickly with his heart still beating very hard, sweats pouring at the same time. He pushed himself to sit up but he felt his whole body ache when he tried to do so. He pushed himself up again and he could feel the pain running through him from the stomach and below. His dull emerald eyes glanced at the body of Karasu and his mind began wondering why his body was in so much pain. Karasu, who sensed to hint that, answered shortly. "You are under my control now. I have rubbed some wet liquid onto you which is something I created. In case you were thinking of running away from me, I had to come up with something to ensure that you wouldn't. That wed liquid causes almost your entire body to ache unless your follow my orders and do what I say. Understand?"

Kurama gave a weak nod and hoped that Karasu would leave soon. Indeed, Karasu left shortly leaving a small naked boy on top of a bed, crying. Kurama struggled to get off the bed but fell when his weak legs gave way to the floor. Karasu felt like giving Kurama a taste of what the pain feels like so he did not take off the spell for the night. Kurama felt pain running through his entire body constantly and he felt like giving up on everything. Kurama put on his clothes with many efforts and threw himself onto the bed.

Crying and sniffing, Kurama forced himself to think that this was all normal especially in the royal palace. Eventually, Kurama cried himself to sleep.

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I'm evil to Kurama aren't I?? I didn't want to go to more details in the whole sexual abuse part but that's just how this story will go. Ahh, I was thinking about just making it abuse in general. That'll probably be the case. Anyways, I wanted to do the whole childhood in one chapter but apparently, I can't. That would have made this chapter like 20 pages in Word and no way was I going to type that long. This chapter was postponed long enough. I'm on my 13th page already! Yay!

If you can tell, I was trying to add some little cute/random sayings in there to lighten up the mood. My elaboration kind of went crappy in the end because I seriously wanted to upload this chapter as soon as possible since I had it on my computer for a month. Oh well…please review!!! I would greatly appreciate it! 33


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